More Crunch Time Woes: Bucks 86 – Nuggets 91

There’s a clear dichotomy building in the Bucks offense. The good angel, Mike Dunleavy (out sick), promotes passing and moving without the ball. The devil, Stephen Jackson, is all heat checks and swagger. It’s way cooler to be Stephen Jackson, but the team really needs Dunleavy to balance him out.

Andrew Bogut, C5-12 FG | 2-4 FT | 7 REB | 4 AST | 12 PTS | -2

Here’s some pretty basic knowledge: Al Harrington is a boss. He’s also a 3/4 tweener. Kudos to him for convincingly winning his match-up on Bogut in the waning minutes of the game. Bogut couldn’t get near the rim on both ends of the court. On one end, he had to chase Harrington around the perimeter, substantially hurting the Bucks defense. On the other end, Harrington simply out-muscled Bogut. Winning similar match-ups is a mandate for Bogut in the future. Another mandate: get in shape. Bogut was visibly winded in the first quarter.

Brandon Jennings, PG5-16 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 12 PTS | -6

Down 89-86 with ten seconds left, Jennings took a long three with Ty Lawson in his face. Delfino was wide open. So it goes. Jennings missed his first opportunity to score 20 points in four straight games and shot under 35 percent for the first time this season. He also had six turnovers. He could take a cue from his counterpart tonight, the super-efficient Ty Lawson who only shoots at the rim or from the three.

Yeah! Moute is back. And well, he was LRMAM as everyone knows him. He was finishing well at the rim and not making anything else. His defense on Gallinari wasn’t stellar, but it was better than whatever Ilyasova was doing tonight. His perimeter defense was on point with a block of Andre Miller and steal on a bad Rudy Fernandez pass.

Jon Leuer, F4-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 8 PTS | -4

It’s a wonder why Leuer wasn’t playing in crunch time when he was the only Bucks whose jumper was falling consistently. Plus, Ilyasova’s play tonight could best be described as nonexistent. Leuer is quickly distinguishing himself amongst the rest of the PF platoon.

One Thing We Saw

The Bucks didn’t score for six minutes in the fourth quarter. As noted before, tonight’s case was Bogut not handling smallball well, but late-game offensive stagnation has been a problem for the Bucks through their first four games.Ball movement has looked good in the first half, but any sign of an improved Bucks offense proves to be a mirage once teams place increased defensive on the Bucks in crunch time.